Page 20 of Zel (The GriMM Tales #2)

Seven

ZEL

Our dearest Rapunzel,

Your mother and I are overjoyed that your time with the sorcerer is proving fruitful, and we believe that in getting to know one another, there will be no doubt in him that he could have no finer bride.

We arrived safely home after our parting with you at the tower to discover your horse had arrived ahead of us, a sign we took to mean you were well, but to hear from you directly adds much needed comfort.

We hope to see you again soon, but rest assured that the music shop thrives, and business continues at a sharp pace compared to the previous season.

We love you dearly.

-Your Devoted Father

M ost notably coded in the letter was that sharp pace meant Lothar was still giving them assassinations to carry out while Zel was away.

Just because the time had come for their grand ruse did not mean his parents could rest during the month.

Lothar always had contingencies and would not risk anything other than business as usual to alert the Queen of a plot in the works to undermine her power.

Tucked in with Zel’s parents’ letter was one from Rudy. Whether they knew he had slipped it in was uncertain, but he too kept to a code.

Zel,

The city is not the same without you, my friend. I think of you often. Should you ever need anything that your betrothed cannot provide, trust that your friends in the city will always be there for you.

Don’t forget: Only empty pockets need filling.

Please continue to let us know you are well. While the sorcerer might be judging your worth during this month, we know it is he who could never be worthy of you.

-Yours, Rudy

Coded to some extent or not—offering Thieves Guild assistance should Zel indicate distress—it was still daring and dangerous for Rudy to say such things if Ulrich were to read the letters, which Zel assumed he did.

Or perhaps he did not, if it was true that he had not rummaged for, found, nor removed Zel’s dagger, but had merely acquired it from a spell.

A week had passed since that sparring match, which meant they were nearing the halfway mark of their time together.

Zel couldn’t be sure when another “test” might present itself, or if every word, every action, every breath he took was under scrutiny.

His pleasant days with Ulrich had mostly been the same since then, yet never dull.

They would go for walks, tend to the garden, share stories and music, dine together, spend time apart too in such tasks as reading, writing, and simple relaxation, and every morn, Ulrich would brush out Zel’s hair and help him to braid it with magic.

Their magic.

Zel continued to eat his daily lettuce with every evening meal, and maybe because he was in the tower, maybe because of the presence of Ulrich, and actually utilizing Zel’s inner magic more than simply having good health, he felt his magic more too. He felt invincible.

Invulnerable.

Immortal?

The thought struck Zel just as he was finishing his own letters to send back to Rudy and his parents.

He had taken to keeping his dagger with him for whenever they might leave the tower.

It rested next to him now since he had used it as a letter opener.

He took up the dagger again and contemplated just what immortality meant.

Zel had not been able to prove whether a cut against Ulrich could mark his skin, draw blood, and then simply vanish, or would his skin be like stone, like steel, and deflect any blow against it the way others could not cut Zel’s hair?

With the dagger tip pressed to his index finger, Zel pushed it forward.

“Zel!” Ulrich was there, as if he’d manifested from the walls. He took the dagger from Zel to set it back on the desk and held his injured hand, where a small pool of blood oozed from his fingertip. “Why would you harm yourself purposely like that?”

Zel imagined Ulrich taking the finger into his mouth to suck the blood from its tip, but Ulrich did no such thing. He grasped Zel’s finger with his blackened hand and curled his own fingers around it.

Ulrich’s hand flared to life the way it did when in contact with Zel’s hair, and the pain Zel had been feeling vanished instantly.

Did Zel’s blood have the same effect on the curse?

Ulrich’s eyes said he was equally surprised.

When he uncoiled his fingers, the blood and cut were gone.

And for the first time, Zel noticed something carved into Ulrich’s palm, for just before the last of the blood disappeared, absorbed into Ulrich, it looked vibrantly red—a circle bisected by a horizontal line.

Zel knew that symbol from somewhere.

“I’m sorry, my lord,” Zel said. “I had always wanted to do that, but my parents wouldn’t allow it.”

“Injure yourself? Why? Surely, you have bled before?”

“Not that I can remember. Since only I could ever cut my hair, I always wondered if only I could pierce my skin. The thought occurred to me that I might be even more invulnerable now. Maybe… immortal?” He blinked up at Ulrich, who hovered over him at the desk.

“You are not,” Ulrich said.

“Yet? My lord would not take a bride without ensuring she would be by his side forever, would he?”

Ulrich’s concern faded to his more knowing look. “Our month has many days yet, Zel.”

Whatever that meant, for it did not answer the question.

Ulrich kissed Zel’s finger before releasing his wrist. It was not as desirable as the heat from Ulrich’s mouth encasing it, but enough to stir within Zel a flutter of southbound heat.

“Now you know. You can injure yourself. So please do not do that again. And despite what may seem like magical luck up until now and the imperviousness of your hair, you are not invulnerable to outside harm should someone land a blow against you. Do not test that theory either. Unless you would like for me to prick you next?”

Oh, more than Zel could admit concerning another type of prick , but he wisely shook his head.

“Good.”

“My lord, were you watching me?” Zel asked.

“Not actively spying, if that’s what you mean.

” Ulrich shifted to lean against the desk.

He appeared so ethereal to Zel, like it wouldn’t be possible to touch him without bursting.

Zel couldn’t be sure whether it was Ulrich’s magic alone that had healed his finger, his own healing intensified even if not to the point of immortality, or both.

“But I can always see you, Zel, always find you when you are within the grounds of my tower, except for when you use the key and are in one of those rooms,” he added with a nod at the magical door.

“You cannot see me at all when I am in there?”

“When you are in my chambers with the full turn of the key, I am already with you.”

“Yes, and I had assumed as much for my bedchamber and the washroom, but you do not see me even when I am in the treasure room?”

“Why would I need to? I already told you that my truest treasures I keep out here.” His next nod was to the shelves of trinkets that had tempted Zel’s parents all those winters ago.

“May I ask you why that is?” Zel turned in his chair to look at the items. “You get thieves frequently enough. Why risk having what is precious to you so much easier to take?”

Ulrich grinned. “By all means, attempt to take something from that shelf.”

Apparently, Zel had walked willingly into his next test. Although part of the test might have been to gauge whether or not he had tried to take something from the shelf before.

He had not.

There was a myriad of items, all made from precious metals, bejeweled, or both. Zel couldn’t guess at any of their magical properties, such as a gold and silver necklace with entwined snakes for its pendant.

Or a set of golden scales balanced by a skeletal hand steadying its fulcrum.

A glass orb on a small silver pedestal with swirling green mist within.

A book made of strange leather, ominous compared to the tomes on the other shelves. It was embossed and bejeweled, yes, but its silver clasp to lock it seemed to be a closed eye. Zel did not want to guess whether that eye could open.

There were many things, but also what appeared to be a gold and emerald hairpin.

Zel chose to reach for that. As soon as he had plucked it from the shelf, it vanished from his fingers, and when he looked up, it was back on the shelf where he had found it.

“No wonder you needn’t worry about thieves.

” Before being interrupted by Ulrich, Zel’s parents must not have managed to try taking anything from the shelf, or they would have mentioned its trick.

“Might I ask you about some of them? Why they are precious to you?”

“Most are because they are part of my history or some strong memory.” Ulrich joined Zel in front of the shelf. “But yes, you may ask about them.”

Zel pointed out each of the items that had most caught his eye.

“Notice how the pendant is an ouroboros?” Ulrich said.

“It protects the wearer from harm but at the slow cost of time left on their life.

It is gradual enough that one might not notice, but greater injuries can mean decades lost. I used it to assassinate a neighboring king, knowing he would foolishly take the bait and charge into battle wearing it.

“The scales weigh intent. Most thought it weighed whether or not someone was lying to me, but lies can have purpose. If someone wished to use lies or even truth against me, however, it would weigh their treachery and remove that same weight from their body.”

“Remove…?” Zel repeated with a shudder.

“It is best to not imagine it. But I used it on anyone who attempted to get close to me, whether to serve me in my rule, in battle, or in my bedchamber.”

Zel’s fear spiked.

“It has since lost its magic from overuse,” Ulrich finished.

“The magic in an item can run out?”

“It depends on how it is made. The scales needed to be charged regularly. Since I lived alone for so long, I stopped bothering.”

Thank God .